Hi, the turnout was not the best last Saturday, but we had a cracking session none the less. Our main sport was Rugby but as always we started with a warm-up led by Ray. The group then split up into pairs passing the rugby ball between themselves. Alan then changed it to pass the ball over and under. The pair stand back to back and pass the ball over the head to each other then between the legs to each other. Then it switched to passing side to side - ie around the waist to each other. Lastly, they were challenged to throw the ball up in the air and clap before catching it again. The partner would pass the ball to you and call out a number between 1 and 5. On catching the ball you had to throw it high in the air, clap the number of times your partner called out, before catching the ball again and then passing back (and calling out a number to them).

We then played a game of Rob the nest which is fast and frentic. The group split in to four teams each with a hoop as a nest. One at a time a tem member would go out and "Rob" a ruby ball from another team''s nest and bring it back to  the home nest. Then the next person would go. While all that is happening other teams could be taking balls from your nest. Therefore, you have to keep an eye on who has the most balls at any one time as you never know when Alan would call a halt to the game and declare a winner. After we played a few games of that we finished off with some passing around and across a big circle we formed with all staff and members.

After our main break we finished off with some Archery, a activity all the kids love. As the weather was still good we played outside for a change. After a practice round we went into team games with the group dividing in to two team's. Hal's team won all three games with Callum getting a bullseye in the first two games.
Our star performers this week were Kealan and Hetvi - well done to you both!

Despite it being a very sad weekend with all the events surrounding Queen Elizabeth II's funeral it was good to get outside and have some fun with kids. We made the most of the good weather and were outside on the playground on Saturday. We started off with a warm-up led by Ray, who was back from his holiday in France. From there we played some Parachute Games.

It was then on to the main sport of Cricket. We started off working in pairs throwing and catching with each other. We were doing bounce passes where you throw the ball to the ground so that it bounces once before reaching your partner for them to catch. From  there Alan added a spot between each pair. The idea being to hit the spot with your throw each time thus practicing accurate throwing.

After a drinks break we progressed to some batting practice - hitting the tennis ball off a tee and aiming at stumps at the far end of the playground.

After the main break we split in to two teams to put all that good practice to use. We played a game of Three Tee Cricket. This is where the fielding team stay motionless while the batter hits three tennis balls, off of three tees. The fielding team are not allowed to stop or block any of the balls. Only once the last ball has been hit can the fielders move. They must then collect the three tennis balls and the three tees and put them back to their starting positions as soon as possible. While that happens the batter runs between wickets as fast as they can to get runs. Each batter has a turn and Alan used all his fingers and toes to count up all the runs. The teams then switched over with the batting team taking a turn to field and vice-versa. At the end of the game Hal's team had scored 87 runs but Callum's team won with 92 runs
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We then finished off the session with some games of Boccia in the hall using the same teams as we had in the cricket. Initially the kids were aiming at hoops with Callum's team having the blue balls aiming for the blue hoop and Hal's red team with red balls and hoop. It was a very close competition that the blue team just edged. The final game was nearest the (white) Jack and the red team won that game.
You may have noticed that I managed to take a lot of photos - too many to caption, especially as it a shorter working week this week. Therefore, apologies for the lack of captions but I am sure you can work out who was doing what in each won.
At the end of the session the coaching team awarded the Star of the Week awards to Ellis and Todd who both did really well - great job boys! 

It was good to be back for Autumn term, after a long summer holiday, and to see everyone once again.
We started the session with a warm-up led by Alan before we got into some Hockey

Hockey started with some practising of the basic skills such as dribbling around cones, working in pairs and shooting practice. After the main break we then put all that good practice to use by splitting in to three teams and playing some short matches. Each team played the other two teams in a round robin fashion.  Callum;s team won the first game 6-2 against Alexander's team. Alexander's team then won against Hal's team 4-0 before Callum's team won the last match 3-0. Thus, making Callum's team the overall winners. 

Once all the hockey was completed, we went inside and finished off the session with some Boccia. The group split in to two teams, one at each end of the hall, and we used hoops as targets.
At the end of the first session back the Star of the Week awards went to Zakaa and Liam - well done lads!